Harris v. State, 05-25-00962-CR, July 31, 2026.
On appeal from County Criminal Court of Appeals No. 2, Dallas County, Texas
Synopsis
The Dallas Court of Appeals held that a 911 recording may be admitted as a self-authenticating business record under Texas Rules of Evidence 803(6) and 902(10) through a compliant custodian affidavit, even if neither the caller nor the dispatcher testifies. For Texas family lawyers, that matters because emergency-call recordings often surface in protective-order proceedings, SAPCRs, custody modification cases, and fault-based divorce litigation where authentication and hearsay objections frequently decide whether the judge hears the recording at all.
Relevance to Family Law
This is a criminal case, but the evidentiary holding travels well into family practice. In Texas family violence protective-order hearings, temporary-orders hearings, custody disputes involving endangerment allegations, and even disproportionate-division claims tied to family violence or substance abuse, lawyers often need to get a 911 call into evidence quickly and cleanly. Harris supports the proposition that, when the proper Rule 902(10) affidavit accompanies the recording and the Rule 803(6) business-record predicate is satisfied, the proponent may not need live testimony from the caller or the dispatcher just to authenticate the recording. That can be especially useful in high-volume settings where witnesses are unavailable, reluctant, out of county, or where the hearing is set on compressed timelines.
Case Summary
Fact Summary
The case arose from a DWI prosecution in Dallas County. A civilian witness observed the defendant parked on the wrong side of the road, refusing to move, and then colliding with his vehicle. The witness described her behavior as aggressive, belligerent, and disoriented. While the incident was unfolding, the witness’s girlfriend called 911 and described the situation to the dispatcher.
At trial, the State offered the 911 recording. Neither the caller nor the dispatcher testified. Instead, the State relied on a records-custodian affidavit stating that the recording was kept in the regular course of business and that the offered copy was the original or an exact duplicate. The defense objected on authentication, hearsay, and confrontation grounds. The trial court reviewed the recording, redacted portions that did not fit a hearsay exception, and admitted the remainder. The court of appeals affirmed.
Although the opinion also addressed expert testimony from a forensic analyst, the family-law significance of the case lies in the court’s treatment of the 911 recording as a self-authenticating business record.
Issues Decided
- Whether a 911 recording may qualify as a business record under Texas Rule of Evidence 803(6).
- Whether a 911 recording may be self-authenticated under Texas Rule of Evidence 902(10) through a proper custodian affidavit, without testimony from the caller or dispatcher.
- Whether the defendant’s hearsay objections required exclusion of the recording.
- Whether the Confrontation Clause barred admission of the 911 recording when the caller did not testify.
- Whether an unlicensed interpretive forensic analyst’s testimony required reversal; the court held any assumed error was harmless.
Rules Applied
The court relied on several familiar evidentiary rules and authorities:
- Texas Rule of Evidence 901(a): Evidence must be authenticated by proof sufficient to support a finding that the item is what its proponent claims.
- Texas Rule of Evidence 901(b)(6)(B): A telephone call may be authenticated by evidence showing it was made to a particular business and concerned business reasonably conducted by telephone.
- Texas Rule of Evidence 803(6): Records of a regularly conducted business activity are excluded from the hearsay rule if the required predicate is established by testimony or certification of a qualified custodian.
- Texas Rule of Evidence 902(10): Properly certified business records are self-authenticating.
- Texas Rule of Evidence 803(8): Public-records exception, which the appellant argued was the only possible route for admission.
- Tienda v. State, 358 S.W.3d 633 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012): Abuse-of-discretion review and general authentication principles.
- Leos v. State, 883 S.W.2d 209 (Tex. Crim. App. 1994): Sound recordings may be authenticated under Rule 901.
- Esnard v. State, No. 05-02-01812-CR, 2003 WL 22332395 (Tex. App.—Dallas Oct. 14, 2003, no pet.): Calls to a 911 dispatch center can be authenticated as calls to a business concerning business reasonably conducted by telephone.
- Davis v. Washington, 547 U.S. 813 (2006): Statements made in a 911 call during an ongoing emergency are generally non-testimonial.
Application
The court rejected the premise that a 911 recording must come in, if at all, only as a public record. Instead, it accepted the State’s business-record route. The critical point was not whether the caller or dispatcher appeared in court, but whether the State supplied a compliant custodian affidavit establishing that the recording was maintained in the regular course of business and that the offered item was the original or an exact duplicate. That affidavit, the court held, was enough to make the recording self-authenticating under Rule 902(10).
On the hearsay issue, the opinion is equally practical. The trial court did not admit the recording wholesale. It listened to the recording, considered the objections, redacted portions that did not satisfy a hearsay exception, and admitted only the balance. The court of appeals noted that defense counsel ultimately acknowledged the hearsay issue had been substantially narrowed and that the appellant did not identify any specific portion improperly admitted after the court’s review. That procedural posture mattered. The court treated the objection as effectively resolved by the redaction process and the narrowed record.
The confrontation analysis also followed established doctrine. Because the caller’s statements were made to obtain emergency assistance during an ongoing event, the court treated them as non-testimonial under Davis v. Washington. So even though the caller did not testify, the recording was not excluded on Confrontation Clause grounds.
Holding
The Dallas Court of Appeals held that a 911 recording may be admitted as a self-authenticating business record under Rules 803(6) and 902(10) when a proper custodian affidavit states that the recording was kept in the regular course of business and is the original or an exact duplicate. The absence of testimony from the caller or the 911 dispatcher does not, by itself, defeat authentication.
The court further held that the appellant’s hearsay challenge did not require reversal because the trial court reviewed the recording, excluded portions it concluded did not meet a hearsay exception, and admitted the remainder. On the record before it, the court found no showing that any improperly redacted or unredacted portion had been admitted.
Finally, the court held that the Confrontation Clause did not bar admission of the 911 recording because the statements at issue were made during an ongoing emergency to obtain assistance, making them non-testimonial.
Practical Application
For family-law litigators, Harris offers a useful evidentiary pathway in cases where emergency-response evidence matters but live witnesses may not be available. In protective-order litigation, a 911 recording can corroborate immediacy, fear, injury, intoxication, threats, or the timing of events. In SAPCR or modification proceedings, the same recording may support allegations of endangerment, substance abuse, family violence, or instability in the child’s environment. In divorce cases, a 911 call may become relevant to fault, temporary exclusive use of the residence, supervised access, or interim possession schedules.
The strategic lesson is that the recording itself and the statements within it are separate evidentiary questions. Harris helps with authentication and the business-record/hearsay-foundation piece for the recording as a maintained record. It does not eliminate the need to analyze the specific statements on the call. Some statements may fit present-sense-impression, excited-utterance, then-existing-condition, or non-hearsay purposes; others may require redaction. The case therefore rewards advance editing, transcript preparation, and a hearing-ready explanation of which portions are offered and why.
The decision is also useful for resisting an overbroad objection that a 911 call is inadmissible unless the caller appears. That argument is too categorical after Harris. The better fight will usually be over the sufficiency of the 902(10) affidavit, the completeness of the business-record predicate, and whether specific statements on the call fit a hearsay exception or must be excluded. Family lawyers should prepare for that narrower battlefield.
Family Law Crossover
The procedural mechanism established by this ruling is straightforward but important: a 911 recording may be offered through the business-records framework of Rules 803(6) and 902(10), using a custodian affidavit in lieu of live authentication testimony from the caller or dispatcher. In a Texas family-law matter, that mechanism could arise when a party offers emergency-call audio at a protective-order hearing, temporary-orders hearing, final trial in a SAPCR, or a modification proceeding. The proponent would still need to satisfy notice and filing requirements applicable to self-authenticated business records, and the court would still evaluate whether particular statements in the recording are admissible or require redaction. But Harris confirms that the threshold authentication step can be satisfied through a compliant custodian affidavit, which can materially streamline proof in family cases built around time-sensitive emergency events.
Checklists
Offering a 911 Recording in Family Court
- Obtain the audio from the appropriate 911 or dispatch-records custodian.
- Request a business-records affidavit that tracks Texas Rules of Evidence 803(6) and 902(10).
- Confirm the affidavit states the recording was kept in the regular course of business.
- Confirm the affidavit states the offered recording is the original or an exact duplicate.
- Calendar and comply with any notice and filing requirements for self-authenticated business records.
- Prepare a transcript or at least a timestamped summary for the court’s use.
- Identify in advance which portions of the call you intend to offer.
- Be prepared to explain the hearsay exception, non-hearsay purpose, or basis for each key statement.
- Offer a redacted version if some portions are plainly objectionable.
Attacking a 911 Recording
- Examine whether the Rule 902(10) affidavit is facially compliant.
- Check whether the affidavit actually establishes a Rule 803(6) predicate rather than making conclusory statements.
- Object if the proponent failed to satisfy notice or filing requirements.
- Separate authentication objections from hearsay objections; do not conflate them.
- Identify specific statements that do not fit any hearsay exception.
- Ask the court to review the recording in detail and require timestamp-specific redactions.
- Consider Rule 403 arguments if portions are cumulative or unfairly prejudicial.
- In non-emergency contexts, evaluate whether parts of the call are arguably testimonial.
Using Harris Strategically in Family Violence and SAPCR Cases
- Cite Harris when opposing counsel argues the caller or dispatcher must testify for the audio to come in.
- Frame the recording as a regularly maintained dispatch record, not merely as an out-of-court accusation.
- Emphasize that admissibility can be addressed in two layers: the recording’s authentication and the statements contained within it.
- Ask the trial court to admit clean portions after redaction rather than excluding the recording wholesale.
- Use the call to corroborate timing, contemporaneity, emotional condition, requests for assistance, and the existence of an ongoing emergency.
- Pair the 911 recording with photographs, medical records, body-cam video, text messages, or officer testimony to strengthen relevance and reduce appellate risk.
Avoiding the Non-Prevailing Party’s Problems
- Do not rely on a blanket assertion that 911 recordings are admissible only as public records.
- Do not assume the absence of the caller or dispatcher defeats authentication.
- Do not make only global hearsay objections; identify the exact statements challenged.
- Do not ignore redaction as a practical middle ground.
- Do not leave the appellate record undeveloped; if portions remain objectionable, specify them by timestamp and substance.
- Do not overlook the possibility that emergency statements may be treated as non-testimonial.
Citation
Harris v. State, No. 05-25-00962-CR, 2026 WL ___ (Tex. App.—Dallas July 31, 2026, no pet.) (mem. op.).
Full Opinion
~~3571e9d6-576c-4416-9c8c-47e891fef902~~
Share this content: